Mizuho turns to blockchain for financial record keeping

17 February 2016 | 7239 views | 0

Mizuho is to use distributed ledger technology from Cognizant to secure record-keeping of documents passed across the group globally.

Mizuho believes the implementation will minimise counterparty risks, speed up settlements, improve contractual performance, and enhance regulatory reporting. The programme will initially focus on New York and Tokyo, where most Mizuho group companies are based

In a statement, the Japanese bank says: "This agreement marks the beginning of a strategic programme at Mizuho to leverage blockchain technology for building new work processes to make transactions and digital interactions more secure, transparent, efficient and cost-effective, thereby delivering superior experience to customers."

Mizuho had its fingers badly burned by the spectacular collapse of bitcoin exchange Mt Gox. As the banker to the notorious bitcoin exchange, Mizuho was named in two of the numerous lawsuits being brought against the defunct operation in the US and Canada.

However it has adopted a more forward-thinking stance when it comes to the technology underlining bitcoin, joining the R3-led blockchain consortium in October.

At the time, Toshitsugu Okabe, deputy president & executive officer in charge of the Incubation Project Team, at Mizuho Financial remarked: “Distributed ledger technologies might become the next disruptive technology that has the potential to innovate everyday banking activities."